The Recovery
by Captain Stitch
Summary: Takes place after the events of Lesson Learned. After Rigby has a restless night at the park, he has a conversation with his girlfriend Eileen about the whole accident ordeal. Rated T for some dark themes in the beginning.
**AN:** Now I said I would only write one more idea for this fandom, but that was before I gotten this really good idea for a sequel to my one shot Lesson Learned, so of course I just had to write it down. This is also my first Rigby/Eileen story so for those of you who ship this adorable couple I hope you like it, and if you don't just give it a chance.

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Regular Show, or anything from the series.**

* * *

" _Hurry, we're losing him!" Benson ordered as he and the rest of the park workers were rushing down the long hallway to the emergency room._

 _Rigby sadly eyed the beaten up, unconscious blue jay laying on the gurney as he gripped onto the railing, feeling a breeze rush by as his boss and co workers carefully pushed the injured groundskeeper towards the end of the hall._

 _His blue and white feathers were ruffled and wet from both the water, and the crimson liquid that had now begun seeping out of the open wounds on his body._

 _Once they reached their destination, the gum ball machine and the rest of his employees were greeted by the doctors and nurses; who immediately took Mordecai in to operate on him._

 _The rest of the gang took their seats inside the waiting room, while Benson talked with the doctor about Mordecai's condition, to see if there was any chance of him waking up and making a full recovery._

 _After what seemed like hours the doors swung open revealing the surgeon; a look of disappointment was on his face as he stood in front of the group._

 _"I'm sorry, but we were unable to save him. He lost an awful lot of blood during the operation, and suffered a lot of brain damage from the fall."_

 _Everyone looked crestfallen as the news echoed through out the room. They hung their heads as tears slowly slid down each of their faces._

 _The doctor continued._

 _"We did everything we could. If you would like to say your goodbyes, you may do so now."_

 _One by one they stood up, and followed the doctor inside where the blue jay was lying motionless on the table. Stitches were now covering up the gashes that ran throughout his bruised body._

 _"M-Mordecai's dead?" Rigby squeaked, feeling a fresh new round of tears clogging up inside of his throat; his mouth began to quiver. "C-can't Death bring him back, like he did with me?"_

 _"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, Rigby." Skips told him sadly. "You're just gonna have to accept it and move on, it's what Mordecai would have wanted."_

 _"N-no, I can't go on without my bro! Mordecai, please come back! I'm sorry!"_

 _"Getting all worked up isn't gonna bring him back, Rigby." Benson replied while trying to comfort Pops, who had now begun sobbing uncontrollably at the loss of his feathery friend._

 _"Margaret's gonna kill me if she finds that I murdered her ex-boyfriend!" The raccoon banged his fists on the table, before placing his head in his paws. "She and Eileen will hate me!"_

 _"It will be alright, Bro. I'm sure they'll understand once you tell them what happened." Muscle Man reassured him, handing Rigby his cellphone._

 _Hi Five Ghost began weeping as he looked away from the corpse. "I'm not very good at handling this kind of thing."_

 _Rigby sniffed as he took the phone from Muscle Man's hand, before punching in the number to the place he knew quite well._

 _He knew the robin was gonna be devastated once she found out about Mordecai's sudden death, as well his own mother - but he also knew that he had to tell her sooner or later._

 _Shaking as he dialed his girlfriend's number, he paused and turned his attention back to Mordecai as he hit the call button, waiting for the mole to pick up and strike a conversation with him._

 _"Hello?"_

 _"E-Eileen, there's something I have to tell you, and Margaret's not gonna like it. M-Mordecai's been in an accident. He didn't survive through the operation."_

 _There was a brief pause as he nervously held the phone up to his ear, waiting for her to respond._

 _Afraid that their relationship had ended for real right then and there after hearing the robin's sweet voice beginning to crack in the background._

 _"We'll be right over."_

 _Hanging up he gave the phone back to its owner, before collapsing onto the polished floor of the operating room. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the guilt that emerged from his shattered heart._

 _A few minutes later, Eileen had entered the room followed by her roommate. She embraced him as he cried on her shoulder. Margaret tearfully stood by her friend's side, holding Mordecai's feathered hand in hers one last time, before the doctor tossed the white sheet over his dead body._

 _"It will be okay, Rigby. It will be okay."_

* * *

Awakening with a jolt, Rigby placed a paw on his forehead. He frantically scanned his surroundings, thankfully he was right where he wanted to be; inside his own, dark bed room lying on top of Trampy.

It had been one whole month since the accident occurred, and the groundskeeper kept waking up in the middle of the night from a recurring dream that had haunted his mind.

Possibly from all the guilt that he faced during his best pal's absence from the park.

Jumping off his bed and allowing his blanket to slip onto the floor, he made his way towards the door to head into the kitchen to get something to eat. As he gripped the doorknob, his eyes then focused on the empty bed that stood before him.

Mordecai was still hospitalized for the injuries he had suffered, and so the staff wanted to keep him in for a little while longer to check on him. But luckily he had survived through the operation, and was doing well.

Unlike in Rigby's horrifying nightmares he kept having night after night about his passing from that tragic event that happened back at the park.

Padding into the eating area, the raccoon opened up the freezer and pulled out one of his favorite snacks. He placed the pizza pouches into the microwave to heat up, before chowing down on them.

Once the timer had set off he carefully removed them, and sat them down at the kitchen table to begin eating. About half way through his meal he heard a knock on the door, leaving him to answer it.

"Eileen, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?" He inquired, while rubbing at one of his eyes.

"I came to check on you, and actually it's six in the morning." The mole corrected her boyfriend before noticing the look on the raccoon's face. "Are you feeling okay, Rigby? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine. So, how's Margaret taking the news that her ex boyfriend is in the hospital?" He asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Much better now that she knows he'll be okay. She was pretty worried about him."

"Yeah, we all were. Would you like to come inside for a cup of coffee?"

"Sure, I can go for a cup."

Inviting his soulmate inside, Rigby began brewing himself and Eileen a cup of coffee to sip on while they sat and talked with each other.

Once the coffee was ready, Rigby placed it on the table before heading back over to his seat.

"Thanks for the coffee, Rigby. It's nice to have someone serve me a cup for a change." The female beamed, taking a sip from her coffee mug.

Rigby gave a charming smile in return after drinking out of his own. "No problem, anything for my lady."

Eileen giggled at that last comment. "You're such a gentleman."

Silence soon filled the air as the couple sat across from each other while enjoying their hot beverage. After a few minutes one of them decided to break it.

"So, how do you feel about having your best friend back?"

Rigby took another sip from his coffee before laying it down on the table, eyeing the mole as he spoke.

"To be honest, I really can't wait to see him. Every time I visited him in the hospital while he was in that coma, it really tugged at my heartstrings- fearing that at any moment I was in that room he could die. Mordecai's like a second brother to me, I feel like for the first time in weeks we have grown even closer in our friendship than we ever had as kids. He's the main reason I got this job at the park, and without him I wouldn't be where I am now."

He paused as he grabbed the waitress by the hand, pulling her up onto the table where he now stood. "With the girl of my dreams."

"You have such a way with words, Rigby." Eileen smiled while wiping away a tear as she listened to his speech about his best friend in the whole world.

"I'm not the kind of guy who likes talking about feelings and such. But I felt like it needed to be said, you know?"

"You should definitely do it more often."

Placing the empty mugs in the sink, the raccoon and mole both sat on the front porch of the park house, welcoming the beautiful sunrise that was painting the sky beyond the horizon as they shared a romantic moment together since the night the two found themselves trapped inside a cave.

"Well Rigby, I hope you learned your lesson about having to face the consequences of your own actions."

"I totally learned my lesson, Eileen. From now on I'm a new man." Rigby vowed as he gently wrapped an arm around her.

Eileen smiled as she leaned against her boyfriends shoulder. The two mammals silently watched the sunrise together, side by side.

"I'm glad to hear it."

* * *

Later that same morning Rigby was cleaning up his bed room when he heard his phone rang. Rummaging through the clutter that had piled up, he found it underneath a pile of unused clothing in one corner of the room.

Looking at the caller ID, he picked it up and spoke into the receiver.

"Benson, what's up?"

"Hey, sorry to bother you. I just wanted to call to let you know about Mordecai's condition." Benson's voice answered on the other end of the line.

"Nah, it's cool. I was just cleaning our room up for when he returns." Rigby responded while picking up an article of clothing off the floor, and neatly placing it inside the dresser.

Benson was taken aback by what his employee had just said. "You're cleaning? Wow, you really are becoming a new man. I'm proud of you, Rigby. Now, where was I?"

"You were talking about Mordecai." The raccoon reminded his boss as he closed the dresser drawer. "So, how is he?"

"He'll be home tomorrow. The doctor said he needs to use crutches in order to get around, and that he needs a lot of rest in order to recover properly. So, I'm gonna take him off work for the next three months until his leg fully recovers. That means no more goofing around, understood?"

Rigby nodded in agreement as he chatted with his boss over the phone, not wanting to get on his bad side, and wanting to do what was best for the blue jay. "Understood."

"Good, I'll let you get back to work then. See you when we get back." Benson finished before hanging up, ending the conversation with the young slacker.

"Later, man."

Once finished with the cleaning, Rigby closed the door to the bedroom and headed back downstairs, ready to start another day of working at the park.

* * *

"It's good to have you home again, dude. Welcome back." Rigby said to his loyal companion as he sat on the sofa the following evening of his friends release.

"Thanks dude, it's good to be back." Mordecai replied groggily as he sat next to his sidekick, elevating his injured leg on the coffee table as Rigby placed a pillow under the avian's cast to make it more comfortable for him.

Rigby went over towards the door, he was about to turn the knob to step outside when he remembered something.

"Hey, is it okay if I go out with Eileen tonight? We're heading out to the movies, unless you want me to stay here with you and play video games, or watch something on TV."

"Nah, it's fine. You go ahead and enjoy yourself, Rigby. You deserve it. I mean, you've always been there to help me out with Margaret and even CJ, it's about time I returned the favor."

Rigby smiled, giving his pal a fist pump before heading back towards the door. "Thanks, Mordecai. If Benson asks, tell him I'll be home around eight."

"Don't worry, man. I got your back."

After his furry buddy had departed the room, Mordecai got up from his spot to grab his crutches that were laying against the side of the sofa.

Limping over towards the window, he saw Rigby walking down the porch steps and out into the front yard to greet Eileen.

Stopping half way to look back at the house Rigby seen the injured slacker staring back at him with a proud smile. Mordecai sent him an encouraging nod; telling him that it was okay to spend the night with her, instead of staying at home with him, before he headed upstairs to lie down.

Smiling back, Rigby turned around and took Eileen by the hand as they strolled through the field towards the park gate.

Ready for a night out together.


End file.
